Solar car sets new record for fastest long-distance EV

Solar car sets new record for fastest long-distance EV

A new world record has been set for the fastest electric car over a distance of 500km (310 miles).

Sunswift solar racing team from the University of New South Wales achieved a new record of an average speed of over 100km/h (62mph) over the 500km distance beating the old record of 73km/h (45mph) which had stood for 26 years.

The teams car known as eVe is a truly green concept too; fitted with solar panels, it is capable of operating on solar power alone, though it takes 20 hours of sunlight to charge the 60kg battery pack.

During the record run though, the team relied on the power stored in the cars batteries. A two-seat race car, eVe is said to have a range of 800kms per charge and a top speed of 60km/h on solar power alone.

The world record was unofficially broken back in July on a racetrack in Victoria, Australia. But it is only now been officially recognised by the Fdration Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsports official governing body.

The new record average time now stands at 106.966km/h, although eVe is also said to have achieved a top speed of 132km/h.

The car also used just AUS$0.50 of electricity completing the record run.

Sunswift was originally established in 1996 to compete in the World Solar Challenge. Since then it has gone on to claim the record for the fastest solar-powered road trip from Perth to Sydney, and a Guinness World Record for the fastest solar car.

Over 100 undergraduates contributed to Sunswifts new record.

It's not often you can confidently say you made history before you even graduated, Sunswifts project director and third-year engineering student Hayden Smith said.

If there is one thing we've learned, it's that you're never too young to make an impact, Smith added.

Now in its fifth incarnation, Sunswift now plans to modify the eVe again to meet Australian requirements for road registration.

eVe will now be taken off the road for a few months to begin the transformation, Smith said, adding that the car could be registered and on city streets within a year.

We've always wanted to keep pushing the cultural change towards electric vehicles, and this is another big step in that direction, he added.